1/16/2014
Recently I posted a blog entry regarding sabermetrics and their place in the game of baseball. Are they a valid means of evaluating players or should we let what we see happen on the field be our indicator, regardless of what the numbers say? Well, in writing that entry, I realized that I am not nearly as educated in sabermetrics as I should be. So I went to the library and checked out Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game is Wrong by the Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts. Hopefully by the end of it I will be more knowledgeable.
I have only read the introduction ("Batting Practice") and the first 19 pages, but so far I'm not very impressed. It seems so far that many of the formulas and factors they use in their calculations are arbitrary (but I'm no mathematician). There also seems to be some flawed logic in some places. But I'll hold off full judgment until I read more. I'll give a more detailed account of what I learn after I complete the book. I have also reserved a copy of The Hidden Game of Baseball by John Thorn, which also goes into statistical analysis. My goal is not necessarily to be a full-blown sabermetrician, but really to gain more of an understanding of the application of advanced statistics to the game of baseball and why so many coaches and players are anti-sabermetrics.
I am also planning on examining conventional baseball wisdom regarding strategy to find out if it works or not. Are there certain things that teams have been doing for decades that just don't work? Would they be better off scrapping it all and going back to the drawing board (for example: would it be a good idea to bat somebody like Matt Kemp in the leadoff slot--he's got plenty of speed--in order to get him to the plate more often and thereby increase your run production?), or is what we're doing the best plan?
More to follow...
No comments:
Post a Comment